Emmet Rosenfeld is an English teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. He has 13 years of experience as a teacher and writer. In this blog, he is chronicling his experiences as he works toward certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

7 Comments

Emmet: I discovered your blog today as I was doing research for/procrastinating working on entry 3 of the EA ELA certificate. As others have commented, it's comforting to realize that I'm not alone in what I'm going through. I'm also hoping to complete 2 entries during my vacation (I get 2 more weeks).

As for your musings on entry 4 - I think you can interpret "impact on student learning" rather broadly. Look at page 16 in The Bible. The 1st core proposition seems to be saying that stuff like, "development of character, aspiration, and civic virtue," are part of learning. Also, page 136 says, "Impact on student learning is meant in a broad sense."

Finally, my current theory on this whole process is that the 1/3 that pass the first time are REALLY good at slogging through these insanely picky instructions, and not necessarily the best teachers. Take entry 1 for example. You can't use any assignment that was from a unit that you videotaped. You need to show they can read by having them respond to something that they didn't read. The students can be from 2 different classes. I've yet to figure out if an entry 4 accomplishment can overlap with entry 1 student work, or if kids writing on a wiki is a "non-text" response. Imagine all the possibilities for not following the rules.

Some comments from the peanut gallery: I read a recent statistic that said 50 % of the applicants pass the first time. I had heard it was 30%, but that never really affected me. I knew I would eventually get it. Also, my mentoring group helped me to visualize my doc.acc. portfolio by asking me to picture a triangle. Divide it in thirds. The top third is the description, the middle third is analysis and the bottom (the largest part) was for the impact on student learning. It worked for me. I just got my NBC for ELA/Ad.& Youth. I was estatic that I passed the first time. Have faith in the process. It IS tricky to navigate the directions. Who said "If it doesn't kill us, it just makes us stronger"? Best wishes. Keep writing!

Hi, Emmet. Thank you for the fun poem; you are a very talented writer. I have gotten some of Entry 4 done during Christmas. Your blog is the only distraction I allow myself during NBPTS computer time, and it has become my saving grace. I'm oscilatting between hopefulness and hopelessness during my worktimes. Your blog really makes me smile. Congratulations, Brenda. I appreciate your triangle suggestion. I think it will help. Thank you. Happy (working) Christmas.

EMMET, Wow! Congratulations for finishing your entries this early. Hope we make it, good luck to us. I am a candidate too for Exceptional Needs Specialist. This is going to be my 4th year in teaching here in the US (I'm originally from the Philippines), I'm still a rookie. I am also a blogger: http://teachersol.blogspot.com

Hi Emmet,
Great to know that I am not alone. I, too, am working hard trying to finish entry 4 before school stars again. After a bout of depression about my score this last time around (271) I am now getting down to work on #4. Whatever the key is to unlocking the secrets of this entry, I intend to find. Thank you for a touch of merriment to further make me forget my past score and get to work

I am JUST beginning this entire process, everyone! Your comments have already helped me so much....now for my entry #4......I just don't get what "counts" and what doesn't! I have also taught a very long time, and some of my biggest accomplishments
were made more than 5 years ago. Can you give me some examples of what you included? Thank you so much....I'm on my own here at my school!